Women under 70 denied brittle bone drug

Women with osteoporosis could be denied vital drugs for preventing fractures because they have been deemed too expensive.

The Health Service watchdog wants GPs to stop prescribing the drugs to under-70s who have not yet broken a bone because it is not 'cost effective'.

This is despite the fact that doctors have been handing them out as a preventative measure for years. Some cost just £300 for a year's treatment.

One in two British women over 50 will suffer a fracture because of the disease, which makes bones break more easily.

The recommendations, from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, cover a type of osteoporosis drug known as bisphosphonates, plus other medicines called raloxifene and strontium ranelate.

All are widely prescribed by doctors to help prevent further bone loss in women with the condition.

Last night campaigners said the drugs should continue to be available to all women who need them, regardless of age and whether they had already broken any bones.

Jackie Parrington, deputy chief executive of the National Osteoporosis Society, said: "This means that women who are at high risk of breaking a bone cannot be prescribed a drug treatment until they reach 70.

"To deny women at high risk of fracture a drug because they are younger than 70, based on arguments about cost, despite effective treatments being available, is not morally acceptable.

"These women will be left extremely vulnerable to a broken bone and all the costs associated with that.

"These are not just financial costs to the NHS and social services over the longer term but, just as importantly, in personal terms where people face the potential reduced quality of life that we know can occur when they are coping with the consequences of broken bones."

Last night osteoporosis patient Jean South spoke of her horror at the possibility of the drugs being denied to those under 70.

Mrs South, 66, found out she had the disease three years ago after a visit to her family doctor. She had not suffered any fractures at the time.

Mrs South, who has been prescribed strontium ranelate, said: "I would have been horrified if my doctor told me I had to wait until I was 70 before I could get a treatment.

"I think I would have been given a life sentence of potential pain and fractures that could have been prevented."

The recommendations from Nice are contained in a consultation document on preventing osteoporosis fractures.

A spokesman said the final guidance will be published in April. The plans follow a series of controversial decisions by the watchdog. Last year it rationed osteoporosis drugs for women over 65 who had already suffered two fractures.

It decided that they should only receive a new treatment called Forsteo if they had already tried the older drugs, bisphosphonates, first.